I would describe myself as willing to experiment with a variety of teaching methods that attempt to achieve learning outcomes. I find a question-based structure to classroom leadership helpful for identifying knowledge gaps and exploring teachable moments. Learning, by way of an active process, becomes more self-analytical, aligning with a scientific method: a quest that begins first with observation or experience, followed by questions or hypotheses requiring investigations, and culminating with the acquisition of new knowledge.

I like to moderate discussions among students and tangle experience with inexperience to generate useful disequilibrium. I use exercises and assignments to further leverage this approach, whether its individually in a writing exercise or in peer collaboration as a share exercise. Evidence shows that through problem-based learning, the development of application, synthesis, and analogy improves a student’s ability for knowledge maintenance.

In recognition that learning-over-time requires repetition, I attempt to create assessment opportunities in exams, quizzes, and writing that overlap content and address different learning styles. This includes assignments that move beyond the classroom and involve creativity, utility, and application in expectation of maximizing learning persistence.

Lastly, I believe these efforts at pedagogy are highly dependent on the social dynamics and leadership style in the classroom, a space widely accepted as the epicenter of the academic experience. Therefore, I attempt to establish myself as a facilitator to learning and put into practice a constructivist’s view that learning is a lifelong experience.